Workflows in Incentives
Workflows are made up of steps that push a Presenter adaptive or Presenter structured report from one state into another based on a set of defined rules.
When you create a workflow, you associate it with a Presenter adaptive or Presenter structured report. Within a workflow, you can add any number of nodes. A path is created between those nodes that defines the logical flow of the business process.
You can create three types of workflows in Workflows.
- Admin-initiated workflow
In an admin-initiated workflow, web users can submit data only one time per cycle of the workflow. If users must submit data again, the admin must restart the workflow.
This type of workflow is ideal for data submission that occurs during a specific time, like an MBO self-scoring form where a user submits scores once a quarter. This type of workflow also works well for situations where the user's submission must be approved by a manager before it can be accepted.
- User-initiated workflow
In a user-initiated workflow, web users can submit data an unlimited number of times as long as the workflow is active.
This type of workflow is ideal for data submission that occurs frequently over a long period of time, like an expense report.
- Inquiry workflow
An inquiry workflow is a special type of workflow you can use to define unique rules for routing inquiries throughout your organization.
By default, inquiry trees are assigned based on user groups. When a user makes an inquiry, that inquiry goes to another group. This is usually based on a reporting relationship. With an inquiry workflow, you can use conditional routing to have more control over the inquiry process. For example, you can route inquiries to go to a different group or a specific user depending on the inquiry category.
To find out more about Workflows and Inquiries, check out the Managing Workflows and Inquiries in Incentives course on our Varicent Academy.
Adding a workflow
In Varicent Incentives, the first step to creating a business process is to create an admin-initiated or user-initiated workflow in Workflows.
In Workflows, click Create workflow and then select one of these workflow types:
Type
Description
User-initiated workflow
In this workflow, web users can submit data an unlimited number of times as long as the workflow is active. This type of workflow can be used with Presenter Adaptive and Presenter Structured reports.
Admin-initiated workflow
In this workflow, web users can submit data only once per each cycle of the workflow. If you want users to submit data again, you must restart the workflow. This type of workflow can be used with Presenter Adaptive and Presenter Structured reports.
Inquiry workflow
This is a special type of workflow that you can use to define the rules for how inquiries are routed. This type of workflow can be used with Presenter Adaptive and Presenter Structured reports. For more information about this type of workflow, read: Inquiry Workflows.
Click the Edit icon next to the Add a workflow name heading to type a name and description for the workflow.
On the Choose Report tab, complete the following steps:
Select the Presenter report to associate with the workflow.
To use the Presenter report's default value for a parameter, leave the Use report default value checkbox selected.
To select or enter a different value for a parameter, clear the Use report default value checkbox, and complete one of the following steps:
To select the web user or form initiator for a parameter, select Value from the menu next to the parameter, and then select the value from the next menu.
To specify a constant value for a parameter, select Constant from the menu next to the parameter, and then type the constant value in the field.
If you selected a user-initiated workflow, on the Layout Restrictions tab, complete the following steps:
Clear the Visible checkbox next to any layout tables that you do not want to display on the Presenter report.
Clear the Editable checkbox next to any layout tables that you do not want to be editable in the Presenter report.
On the Type tab, select one of the following choices:
Type
Description
Explicitly select payees
You can choose the payees that are part of the form initiator swimlane.
Select payees by restrictions
You can set restrictions to define the payees that are part of the form initiator swimlane.
On the Data Sources tab, add any additional Data sources that are required to define the payee or payee group that makes up the first swimlane. You can use any table or calculation with a payee partition as a source.
On the Restrictions tab, define the Restrictions for the payee or payees who make up the form initiator swimlane.
If you are not defining payees by restriction, on the Payees tab, select or clear the column to add or remove payees from the form initiator swimlane.
Click Create.
Configuring data update settings for Workflows
You can auto-update or delay data updates for Workflows that use a Presenter Adaptive report.
In Workflows, select an Admin or User-initiated type workflow.
Click the Workflow settings
or Expand panel 
button.Select one of the following data update settings:
Auto Update: Instantly update the model sources as the workflow progresses.
Delay Update: Delay data updates of the workflow to model sources until the workflow has been completed. Both an approve path and reject path are needed to delay data updates.
Close the panel and click Run workflow
.
Editing a workflow
In Incentives, you can make changes to an existing workflow in Workflows.
Note
You cannot edit a workflow that is currently running. Additionally, it is not possible to directly modify an archived workflow. Instead, you will need to duplicate the workflow to make any changes.
In Workflows, click the workflow that you want to edit.
Make necessary edits to your workflow:
Form initiator: To modify the form initiator, edit the Form Initiator swimlane. Note that changes cannot be made while the workflow is in progress. However, you can still review it using the Workflows wizard.
Edit a node: Click on the Edit
icon within any node to make modifications.Add a node: Click on the Add
icon to add a new node to your workflow.Add a Swimlane: If you need to add a swimlane, click the + Add Swimlane option.
Note
Although there isn't a separate save option for the workflow, remember to save changes to the specific components or nodes you edit during this process.
Duplicating a workflow
In Incentives, you can copy a workflow in Workflows.
When you duplicate a workflow instance, the process duplicates the configuration of the workflow, such as the workflow type and the linked Presenter Adaptive or Presenter Structured report, along with the swimlanes and nodes. The process does not duplicate the workflow state, such as errors, pending actions, or history, of any running workflows. You can duplicate a running workflow, but a duplicated workflow is initially in a stopped state.
In Workflows, from the row with the workflow that you want to copy, click the More options menu (...).
Select Duplicate.
Type a name for the new workflow.
Click Save.
Renaming a workflow
To rename an existing workflow:
Note
You cannot rename a running workflow.
From the Workflows module, click the More options menu (...) of the workflow you wish to rename.
Click Rename.
Enter the new name of the workflow, and then click Rename to apply changes.
Deleting a workflow
To delete an existing workflow:
Note
You cannot delete a running workflow.
From the Workflows module, click the More options menu (...) of the workflow you wish to delete.
Click Delete.
Selecting a payee as form initiator
When configuring your swimlanes, you may require a more dynamic setup. For example, say you have a Sales Manager swimlane where you have two or more Sales Managers overseeing different sales reps. The Sales Manager swimlane would then need to change based on the sales rep that prompts the workflow. You can achieve this by setting payee restrictions, and you can test your configuration by selecting a payee to act as the form initiator. This selection is for testing purposes only. By selecting a payee to act as form initiator, you can preview the payees appearing in subsequent swimlanes based on your selection.
For example, say you have two Sales Managers, Dave Darcy and Kathy Kerry. The sales rep, Peter Posy, reports to Kathy. If you select Peter to act as your form initiator and then preview your Sales Manager swimlane, you will see that Kathy is the Sales Manager alerted in the next step of the workflow.
From the Workflows module, click a workflow to open it.
Click the Workflow settings icon
.Click the Swimlanes tab.
Select a payee to act as form initiator.
Click the Edit icon
on the swimlane where you want to test payee restrictions.Click Preview.
Review the list of payees that appear based on your selected form initiator.
Click X to close the preview and return to the swimlane configuration dialog.
If the results aren't as expected, adjust your data sources and restrictions as needed. Read Swimlanes.
Running workflows
After creating your workflow, the next step is to run it.
From the Workflows module, click a workflow to open it.
Click the Run workflow icon
.On the confirmation dialog, click Run.
Stopping a workflow
All workflow types - Inquiry Workflows, Admin-Initiated Workflows, and User-Initiated Workflows can be stopped. Stopping each type of workflow follows a specific process and may impact linked reports or ongoing inquiries.
To stop a workflow:
From the Workflows module, click on an existing running workflow.
From the top navigation menu, click
Stop workflow.If the workflow is an Inquiry workflow, click Archive.
Note
When you stop an Inquiry Workflow, it moves into an archived state. You can’t run or edit it anymore but can still make copies. If there are any ongoing inquiries, they will continue until they reach the end node.
Sometimes, an Inquiry Workflow could be linked to a Presenter Adaptive report, which might be used as a web tab in the Portal Access module to display in the Sales Portal.
If you stop the Inquiry workflow, the inquiry resets in the Presenter Adaptive report, and the linked report in the Portal Access module will also be cleared.
To copy an archived workflow, read: Duplicating a workflow.
If the workflow is an Admin-Initiated or User-Initiated workflow, click Stop.
Note
All progress will be erased once you stop an Admin-Initiated or User-Initiated workflow.
Adding payees after a workflow is started
You can include payees in the designated swimlanes even after initiating a workflow. Here’s how you can manage this:
From the Workflows module, start a workflow.
From the toolbar, click the Add workflow payees icon
, and click Confirm.From the Data Sources tab, add any additional Data sources that are required to define the payee or payee group that makes up the first swimlane. Any table or calculation with a payee partition as a source can be used.
From the Restrictions tab, define the Restrictions for the payee or payees who make up the form initiator swimlane.
Note
If you used restrictions to define payees, you can schedule the addition of workflow payees in the Scheduler module.
If you are not defining payees by restriction, on the Payees tab, select or clear the column to add or remove payees from the form initiator swimlane.
Click Save.
Adding admins after a workflow is started
Once a workflow is active, you can still add admin users to admin swimlanes.
In the Workflows module, open the workflow you want to modify.
Hover over the admin swimlane. Select the edit icon
to edit the swimlane.An editor will open. Select Admins in the editor.
Use the checkboxes to select or deselect the admins for the swimlane.
Select create to save your changes and close the editor.
Organizing workflows
To organize your workflows in Incentives, you can rearrange and nest/unnest folders and workflows with an easy and intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Just click and drag workflows to put them inside of folders in the left-side menu. Click and drag folders over/under each other to rearrange them. Drag and drop one folder on top of another to nest within that folder. To un-nest a folder, click and drag it to the left.
To nest a folder, you can also:
Click the More options button of the folder you want to nest.
Click Move to folder.
Select the folder you want to nest within.
Click Move.
Note
When you are moving folders, they will collapse automatically. If you drag your folder outside of the menu and drop, it will return to its original place in the list.
For ease and accessibility, this feature also works with keystrokes. Click or tab into the Folders sidebar to start navigating with arrows. Press up and down keys to toggle between folders. Press enter/return to expand and collapse folders. Press the space bar to start dragging a selected folder. Press the space bar again to drop the folder.
To create a nested folder/subfolder:
Select the folder that you want nest inside of.
Click the More options button.
Click Add folder.
To rename a folder:
Select the folder you want to rename.
Click the More options button.
Click Rename.
Enter a name for the folder.
Press Enter/Return.
You can also change the order of how your workflows are arranged. By clicking on the Name tab, you can arrange the order of how the workflows are shown, be it ascending or descending, by name, type, reports, total runs, last run date, last action, or status.
Click on the Filters tab to view the list of workflows according to a specific type or status. You can also organize your workflows by clicking on the Starred tab to see those you have marked as starred.
Profile settings
In Profile settings under the Profile tab, you can view your user and login settings, and change the email you'll be using for your account. Under the Password tab, you can see an overview of the password settings for your account and change your password. Within the API key tab, you can generate, delete, and regenerate an API key.
You can manage your personal preferences by configuring inquiry submission notifications. By enabling or disabling each toggle button, you can set the emails that you want or don't want to receive when actions are taken within an inquiry. This helps to better manage your involvement in the lifecycle of an inquiry.
For payees:
From the Workflow module click your profile icon and then select Profile settings.
Select Notifications on the left panel.
Enable or disable email notifications for inquiries you submitted, those you're affiliated with, when form values change in the inquiry, and when someone comments, takes an action, or closes an inquiry.
For admins:
From the Workflow module click your profile icon and then select Profile settings.
Select Notifications on the left panel.
Enable or disable email notifications for My assigned inquiries. These are inquiries associated to when you've been assigned as the inquiry owner.
Enable or disable email notifications for My affiliated inquiries. These are inquiries that you've made changes to or performed an action on.
Enable or disable email notifications for Unassigned inquiries. These are inquiries that have not been assigned to an admin.